Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death

How does the animal world deal with death? And what ecological and spiritual lessons can we learn from examining their processes? Naturalist Bernd Heinrich (who also gave us The Mind of the Raven, Snoring Bird, and Winter World) has long been fascinated by these questions, though it was the request of a colleague for a "green burial" on Heinrich's land that prompted him to investigate. From beetles to bald eagles, wolves to ravens, he reveals a fascinating and largely hidden post-death world that occurs around us constantly, while examining the ancient and important role we too play as scavengers, connecting death to life.

"Despite focusing on death and decay, Life Everlasting is far from morbid; instead, it is life-affirming ... convincing the reader that physical demise is not an end to life, but an opportunity for renewal."—Nature

"Bernd Heinrich is one of the finest naturalists of our time. Life Everlasting shines with the authenticity and originality that are unique to a life devoted to natural history in the field."—Edward O. Wilson